


The Villain Who Saved the Earth (for Her)

by Maiika



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Great Ape, Kakarot - Freeform, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-26
Updated: 2019-05-26
Packaged: 2020-03-18 00:26:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18975262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maiika/pseuds/Maiika
Summary: Kakarot has no problem doing what he came to Earth to do while he waits for word from his home planet.At least, he doesn’t until someone else comes along to finish the job for him and he realizes battling a certain Earthling means more to him than he realized.Gochi





	The Villain Who Saved the Earth (for Her)

**Author's Note:**

> Written for a request over on my tumblr: I dunno if you’re taking fanfic requests still, but there was a prompt that seemed like a good setup for angst that said “A is the strongest villain in the world but always loses to the hero because they fell in love with them and doesnt want their rivalry to end. Something happens to the villain, and another villain shows up, one that is too strong for the hero to beat.” I was thinking Goku/Kakarot be the villain and ChiChi be the hero? I’d love to see you write it if it catches your interest.

The screams, the flailing little humans, the crumbling buildings, the bright sparks and flames - it was all well and good.  But nothing made destroying a city worthwhile like having an opponent arrive to try and stop him. This was Kakarot’s favorite part.  Having someone or something to punch back made him feel  _ alive _ .

 

he grew up purging the Earth one city at a time, seeing who would try and stop him at each city.  Earth had become the closest thing Kakarot knew to home over these years of destruction, and since no answer ever came from his calls to Vegeta, he was in no rush to finish the job here.  He would bide his time on Earth toying with those who dared to fight him while he waited for his new destination somewhere out in space.

 

First, it had been a girl.  Back when he was just a brat, she’d arrived in her pink armor with black hair cascading down her back, wielding a blade from the top of her helmet.  She’d failed, of course, same as all who came after. The giant Ox man, the turtle hermit, the machines from that blasted army, the green-skinned demon...none had a chance against the might of a Saiyan.  He didn’t kill them...at first. He enjoyed when they returned for more. Especially that girl.

 

He was happy to find that today, it was her turn again.  She was older now, like himself. Kakarot had realized early on she had to be about the same age as him.  Chi-Chi, she called herself. She didn’t wear her armor today, but the blue and red traditional dress of her mountainous region of this planet.  Kakarot couldn’t understand the soft clothes and the loose fabric; it was completely impractical for battle. But something about it...flattered her, even as she glared at him from her perch on her cloud.  Her dark eyes sparkled beneath her fringe of black hair that wasn’t pulled back while her pink lips turned up in a sneer.

 

Kakarot laughed, his voice booming from between sharp teeth and a wrinkled snout.  “ _ You _ today?”

 

She pointed a weapon at his face, a red pole with the potential to extend and reach him even with this great distance between them.  “You killed Gohan!”

 

Kakarot scratched his head, sorting through his mental list of Earth’s defenders, thinking Gohan could be the one without a nose.  Or maybe he’d been the old one who carried that pole Chi-Chi now wielded. Kakarot recalled yesterday’s attack on a little mountain town.  People had resisted, but no one had really put up much of a fight. Chi-Chi and her friends weren’t the smartest of their race, trying to face off with him, but they were strong enough for him to at least  _ notice _ before killing them.

 

“Which one is he again?” Kakarot said.

 

Chi-Chi growled, and for some reason, maybe the instincts of his ape form, the hairs on his body rose at the primitive sound.  “So stupid! Why are you like this? Why don’t you just leave this planet?”

 

“Well, where’s the fun in that?” Kakarot said innocently.  “Nothing fun’s happening in space, but here there are always people lining up to fight me.”

 

“Because you’re killing people!  Don’t you see how wrong this is?”

 

Kakarot chuckled.  This was the part where she lectured him before the fight.  It was the best chance she had at ending his purge, but it wouldn’t make any difference.  The blue haired girl had  _ almost _ convinced him to stop when she educated him on the fact that all Earth’s cooking would die with the Earthlings.  But Kakarot knew there were other thriving planets out there. They had to have food as good as Earth’s. He would just have to take as much with him as possible when he left.  

 

Kakarot opened his mouth to tease Chi-Chi, but a sharp pain tore through the base of his tail.  The telling sensation of his armor loosening around his shoulders made him tense as he turned to look behind him.  The horrifying sight of his limp tail falling from his body, a bloody stump, made him roar. His elastic uniform shrank around him, growing snug against his bare skin where the fur between receded.  He snapped a glare at Chi-Chi, whose glare was just as fiery, but lips were upturned in a triumphant smile.

 

“Yeah!” cried a familiar voice from behind Kakarot, so distant he almost didn’t hear it as his ears began to shrink.

 

“You’re leaving this planet today,” Chi-Chi said, whirling the stick between the limber fingers of both hands, in front of her and above her, before prodding it toward Kakarot again with the fiery expression of a true warrior.  “Or you die.”

 

Kakarot shook his head as his height descended swiftly, the ground rushing up at him from where his shrinking feet awaited to meet with his smaller Saiyan body.  The pathetic Earthlings thought they had him beat. He hadn’t even shown them yet how much more powerful he’d become in this form. But he’d let Chi-Chi hold on to the illusion for now.  It was what kept them coming, and Kakarot especially didn’t want to dissuade  _ Chi-Chi _ from disrupting his next purge.  He’d steal away in the rubble and shadows, moving too fast for her eyes to detect, and finish the job next time.

 

* * *

 

He called the Red Ribbon Army’s old fortress his home now, more for the Earthlings’ benefit than for his.  The king of Earth had broadcasted his location the day he was spotted here after killing off the army, and it had stuck ever since.  Every night Kakarot returned here, he was greeted by banquets worth of food. He learned only recently that people from different cities left these offerings in the hopes he would favor their tastes and spare their city over others, to buy themselves another day to live by satisfying the Saiyan committed to destroying them all.  It was too bad for them he’d never bothered to learn to read their complicated Earth language, so credit never came to the cities with the best rices, most delicious meats, and tastiest sauces. He chose where to destroy on a whim whenever the moon was full. It was as simple as that.

 

Kakarot scooped his arms full of the most delicious-smelling assortments piled at his entryway, drool pooling in his mouth as his stomach rumbled.  He raced inside, dumping the food on the long table left in the army’s dining hall and shoving a heap into his mouth before bothering to decipher what exactly the savory, juicy item was.  The taste excited him enough to continue hauling food into his maw until the table was cleared and his stomach was stretching the elastic of his uniform. As he leaned back in his chair with a hearty burp, he reached for the scouter left at the edge of the table.  He checked it at the end of every night - at the end of every night, it was the same thing. He couldn’t bring himself to break the habit though, the hope of learning one day there may be a greater challenge coming his way than what Earth had to offer.

 

He affixed the scouter over his ear as he watched half the banquet hall become tinted red.  His finger sank with practiced familiarity into the button at his ear as the scouter sang to life.  Symbols flashed before his left eye as their yellow lights cascaded bright echoes of their movements across the dining hall floor.  This was when silence always greeted him. A long wait would yield nothing but static and air, lulling him to sleep.

 

The rumble of a deep voice made Kakarot sit upright and clutch the scouter as if he might miss something if the connection was weakened.

 

_ “Kakarot!”  _ the man said on a recording from an hour ago, according to the scouter display,  _ “if you’re still on that mudball, I’m on my way.  You’ve taken far too long to complete a simple purge mission.  When I get there,  _ I’m _ taking command!” _

 

Kakarot snorted as a flash on his scouter identified the messenger as Raditz.  His elder brother thought he could just come here and take command after years of leaving Kakarot in absolute silence.  If he’d had any earlier intention of communicating with Kakarot, maybe by letting him know he was still alive and Kakarot wasn’t the only surviving Saiyan in the universe, he should have sent this message when he’d been still a child.  Maybe  _ then _ Kakarot would have this planet purged already rather than taking his sweet time.

 

He kicked his feet up on the table and removed the scouter from his ear, twirling it between his fingers.  As he hooked one ankle over the other and watched the red of his scouter lens bathe his white boots in red, then disappear to reveal their grayness in the shadows, then red again, he wrestled with the idea of what had to be done next.  He would have to finish this before Raditz arrived. The next full moon. By then his tail would regenerate. It was his last chance to purge this planet without his brother’s interference.

 

* * *

 

On the night of the full moon, Kakarot almost couldn’t bring himself to look up at the night sky.  The Earthling televisions he passed in the store window warned humans of their need to retreat indoors tonight and find safety from the imminent attack from the Saiyan.  His tail hadn’t grown back as it used to in the past. The damage seemed to be irreversible. He could feel the moon, blutz waves piercing his skin and energizing him, but seeing it without transforming seemed inconceivable.  Raditz was coming. Kakarot had to try. He peeled his eyes from the dog-faced reporter holding a microphone to his face on the television screen to seek the glowing orb in the sky. It was so bright. It radiated down on him like a beam of energy.  His skin prickled with the sensation and his eyes twitched, but all the other familiar sensations never kicked in. He felt his tail writhing behind him, a phantom limb unable to work. With a deep breath, Kakarot determined to purge the rest of this world without using his transformation.  

 

He sped into the sky, stopping abruptly when he saw  _ her _ face.  She wasn’t here, but he saw her, all the same. Judging him.  Pleading with him. Screaming as her body was ripped into oblivion by a mass of ki too powerful for her to counter.  Kakarot’s heart sank. He didn’t know what was wrong with him. It didn’t have to be tonight. Now that he wasn’t relying on the full moon and his transformation, he could put this off until the days leading up to Raditz’s arrival.

 

* * *

 

When the attack pod shot across the dark sky, booming a second before the Earth trembled at its landing, Kakarot felt the first pang of fear he’d ever felt in his life.  Power readings flashed across his scouter higher than any he’d seen before. Raditz wasn’t a powerful foe arriving to threaten him; he was a powerful foe destined to destroy  _ her _ along with the rest of her weakling race.

 

Kakarot didn’t know whether he’d be able to stop him, but for the first time, he knew he had to.

 

* * *

 

Kakarot awoke from the fight with an eye swollen shut and a pain in his left leg so intense that his attempt to move flashed his vision to white.  His right arm didn’t move with the rest of his body; it was pinned to the ground. Fighting the ache in his neck, he turned his head to the massive boulder crushing his arm.  He pushed his free hand against the boulder when Raditz’s mocking voice sent a shock of fear through him.

 

“You want that off, don’t you?” Raditz said, his voice close.  

 

Chi-Chi’s whimper sounded even closer.  

 

“Kill  _ them _ ,” Raditz said as pain shot through Kakarot’s lower back, Raditz’s toes turning his contorted body to face a rapt audience frozen by fear, “and I’ll not only release you, but I won’t have to kill her.”

 

Kakarot coughed.  Air rattled in his lungs.  His ribs were broken then, along with his leg.  He raised his gaze with his good eye to see Chi-Chi staring down at him, her bottom lip trembling, Raditz’s thick fingers clenched around her throat.  Blood trailed from her nose where Raditz had punched her, forced her to submit when she’d been too stubborn to back down, even at Kakarot’s insistence.  Kakarot’s head throbbed as he tried to rise up again, only falling back into the dirt with a groan.

 

“I’m waiting, Kakarot,” Raditz said, smiling viciously at the back of Chi-Chi’s head, a leering gaze for Kakarot’s benefit.  

 

“You want  _ all _ life on Earth destroyed,” Kakarot said with a sneer. “That was my mission.”

 

“It  _ was _ , wasn’t it?” Raditz growled, his glare intensifying.  “I can’t believe you let these pathetic Earthlings weaken you like this, Kakarot!  I should just kill them all now, starting with  _ her _ .”

 

“No, wait!” Kakarot said before Raditz’s fingers could tighten any further around Chi-Chi’s throat.

 

Her grimace betrayed everything while her face went blue.  Kakarot had to stop it at any cost. He propped himself up on his elbow, shifting the heavy boulder on his other arm, which rumbled with his movement.  He’d taken enough human lives. A few more meant nothing to him, though the thought of doing this with Chi-Chi in such close proximity made him ache more terribly than his throbbing leg.

 

Kakarot extended his hand toward the crowd, gathering power in his palm.  “I’ll do it.”

 

“No!” Chi-Chi screamed.

 

Kakarot’s eyes widened as he watched Chi-Chi’s elbow withdraw from Raditz’s abdomen, her heel lifting from the top of his boot.  Raditz growled and clutched her to him as she writhed and struggled, but she managed to hold Kakarot’s gaze.

 

“Don’t do it, Kakaro-“

 

She grunted from the impact of Raditz’s knee in her gut.  As she doubled over, Kakarot felt a power rise up in him from reserves he didn’t know he had.  He shoved the power gathered in his palm into the boulder with lightning speed, blasting it into exploding fragments.  Raditz was too busy kicking Chi-Chi to stop him from leaping off the ground. His bad leg crumpled beneath him, but he leaned on his good one and powered through to punch Raditz in the side.  Chi-Chi locked eyes with him, her gaze appreciative and reassuring and wholesome, before she rolled off the ground, prepared to lunge at Raditz.

 

Kakarot seized the tail wrapped around Raditz’s waist. It was the Saiyan weakness no human had ever learned to exploit, but Kakarot was not above that.  He certainly wouldn’t hold back for his older brother who’d put him through so much torture to make a point.

 

Raditz fell to his knees, groaning.  “K-Kakarot!”

 

“Go,” Kakarot told Chi-Chi.  “I’ll take care of him.”

 

Chi-Chi panted, her eyes darting between Kakarot and Raditz.  “Take care of him  _ how _ ?  Kakarot, you’re in no shape-“

 

Raditz growled, swinging elbows in weak attempts to dislodge from Kakarot, but Kakarot tightened his grip.  He winced sympathetically when his brother screamed at the pain.

 

“He’s not going anywhere,” Kakarot assured her with a smile, panting as pain radiated from his leg, his bad arm, and his chest.  “But you need to promise me you’ll leave and not come back here.”

 

“But what are you going to-“

 

“Chi-Chi!” Kakarot yelled with urgency before meeting her gaze with a smile that conveyed all the feeling he had for her, feelings he’d failed to recognize before now, before it was too late.  “I won’t let Raditz hurt anyone else. I’m going to protect the Earth.”

 

She stepped toward him.  “But-“

 

As Raditz flinched, Kakarot wrung his hands around his tail.  “It’s what I should have done all along, like you.” He laughed.  “Sorry I’m such a slow learner.”

 

“You can’t mean…” Chi-Chi trailed off, her dark eyes shining with unshed tears as she reached for Kakarot.  She clenched her fists and bared her teeth as her eyes turned to Raditz. “Let me kill him!”

 

“No!” Kakarot tugged violently on Raditz’s tail as his brother tried to lunge for Chi-Chi.  He watched his brother fall to the ground face first, writhing in agony. “He’s still my brother, Chi-Chi.  Me and him are the only ones left. I can’t just kill him.”

 

“Are you insane?” Chi-Chi said with a choked sob, gesturing violently to Raditz’s sprawled, groaning form.  “He’ll kill us all the first chance he gets.”

 

Kakarot shook his head.  “He has other missions. I just have to take him away from here.  Earth isn’t worth the trouble of returning. He has bigger fish to fry out in space.  Isn’t that right, Raditz?”

 

As Kakarot stepped on his brother’s leg, he knew Raditz knew exactly what he was talking about.  The confessions he’d made when he first arrived here. The real reason he’d sought out his forgotten brother after so many years of neglecting him.  Two other Saiyans waited out there and they had a mission of their own, one long overdue to be completed ever since Planet Vegeta and the rest of their people were destroyed.

 

“If he wants me to help him,” Kakarot said, more to Raditz than to Chi-Chi, “he won’t  _ ever _ return to Earth.”

 

“Yes,” Raditz rasped, pounding his fist on the ground when Kakarot bore his weight down on him.

 

“So,” Chi-Chi said, digging her toe in the dirt, her voice softer than usual, “you're finally doing it.” She met his gaze, eyes full of tenderness.  “You’re going to leave this planet.”

 

She clasped her hands in front of her, looking beautiful in spite of her dirt-stained dress and the bruises marring her pale throat.  Kakarot imagined for a moment how things could have been different if he’d chosen a different path here on Earth. He couldn’t say his time here was a total loss.  At least now, the battle he’d desired was coming to him, one even the prince of Saiyans couldn’t wage on his own. Still, no matter how intense and challenging the upcoming fights might be, he couldn’t help but think none of them would ever measure up to the ones he fought with her.

 

“Yeah,” Kakarot breathed, closing his eyes as pain coursed once again through his body.  “I’m going to miss our battles, Chi-Chi.”

 

Chi-Chi smiled.  “You enjoyed them way too much.”

 

“Maybe,” Kakarot laughed.

 

“I’ll miss you, too,” Chi-Chi said, her cheeks flushing pink as her smile widened.  “As crazy as that sounds.”

 

“Now go,” Kakarot said as Raditz growled his impatience from beneath his boot.  “We have a long journey ahead of us. We’ll need to set our ships to healing.”

 

“‘S’fine,” Raditz mumbled into the dirt.  “Now release me and get me to my ship. I promise I won’t touch the humans.”

 

Kakarot tugged on Raditz’s tail.  “You go first, Chi-Chi.” He raised his gaze and smiled at her for the final time.  “Looks like this is goodbye.”

 

“Promise me you won’t forget me,” she said before turning with a wave.

 

Kakarot nodded.  He couldn’t forget Chi-Chi now.  In the midst of battling the emperor of the universe, he would probably still be thinking of her.  Memories of Chi-Chi and what he had worth protecting here on Earth might even power him through his most difficult moments in battle.

 


End file.
